Hinrich playing like old self

Bulls guard at best with team's feisty style

April 16, 2013|By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune reporter

Taj Gibson shared an interesting observation of the two seasons Kirk Hinrich spent with the Wizards and Hawks between Gibson's rookie year learning from the then-Bulls captain and Hinrich's return this season.

"It didn't seem like he was himself," Gibson said. "The teams he was on, it wasn't the Chicago-style of basketball that we play. Now he's back to my rookie year Kirk — how grimy he is, hitting big-time shots, guarding the best player, leading us as a strong, fundamentally-sound point guard. He has done a great job through all the injuries."

Therein lies the rub. Hinrich has missed 22 games this season with four different ailments. But the 10-year veteran has played in 15 straight games entering Wednesday's season finale. And with the playoffs looming, Hinrich offered an encouraging declaration.

"I'm feeling as good as I have all year," he said.

This is crucial for a team whose rotation is in flux because of myriad injuries and possible minutes limits on key pieces like Gibson and Joakim Noah.

"He comes into the game and calms everybody down," Gibson said. "He helps us focus so much. With Derrick (Rose) hurt, he understood his role became bigger."

Hinrich is averaging 7.5 points and 5.2 assists on 36.8 percent shooting. His value always has transcended numbers, although he remains one of his own harshest critics.

"I feel like I played OK this season," he said. "Obviously, I'd like to see more shots going in. Defensively, I feel I've been very good at times, especially when I've been healthy and bringing energy. The challenge for me was not getting frustrated because the ball wasn't going in for me.

"I stayed positive, stayed with my work, tried to get my shots up. It's clear they needed me to run the team and I tried to do that to the best of my ability."

Rotation roulette: Keeping Noah and Gibson healthy is critical during the postseason. The Bulls took Tuesday off, and both players continued treatment on their respective lingering injuries, plantar fasciitis for Noah and a sprained MCL for Gibson.

Coach Tom Thibodeau said "it's a possibility" the players will be on minutes limits to start the playoffs, which affects his rotation.

"You don't know what the minutes are going to be, so that's another huge factor," Thibodeau said. "We have to get that sorted out in a very short amount of time.

"The question is: Are we going to be sharp? You're talking about playoff basketball, where the intensity level is very high and it's the same opponent over and over. Most of the time, games are decided by one or two possessions. So how you matchup with people is critical. A bad matchup for a minute in the playoffs, that's 10 points. We have to be right and ready."